Unit 8: ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY

8.1.- DEFINITION OF ANALYTICAL GEOMETRY

Analytical geometry or coordinate geometry or cartesian geometry was
developed by Pierre de Fermat and René Descartes.

Analytical geometry is the study

of points, curves and lines defined
by algebraic expressions.

Analytical geometry uses algebra

to study geometric properties,
and operates on symbols defined
in a coordinate system.

The cartesian plane, the basis of

analytical geometry, allows
algebraic equations to be
graphically represented, in a
process called graphing.

8.2.- RELATIONS BETWEEN POINTS IN THE PLANE

Midpoint of a line segment

A line segment on the coordinate plane is defined by two endpoints whose
coordinates are known. The midpoint of this segment is exactly halfway between
these endpoints.

Let’s find the coordinates of the

midpoint M of the segment AB .

Since the two right triangles

must be equal,

xm − x1 = x2 − xm ⇒ 2xm = x2 + x1
x2 + x1
xm =
2
ym − y1 = y2 − ym ⇒ 2ym = y2 + y1
y2 + y1
ym =
2

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The x-coordinate of the midpoint is the average of the x-coordinates of the two
endpoints.

The y-coordinate of the midpoint is the average of the y-coordinates of the two
endpoints.

A(x1 , y1 ) 
  x1 + x2 y1 + y2 
 ⇒ M , 
  2 2 
B(x2 , y2 ) 

Example: Find the the midpoint of the line segment joining the points A( −2, 5)
and B(4, 1) .

A( −2, 5) 
  −2 + 4 5 + 1 
 ⇒ M ,  = (1, 3)
  2 2 
B(4, 1) 

Exercise 1

Find the coordinates of the midpoints of the sides of this quadrilateral.

Exercise 2

The segments AC and BD have the same midpoint. If A( −2, 3) , B( −3, − 1) and
C(4, − 2) , find the coordinates of the point D.

Exercise 3

The points ( −2, 3) , (1, 2) and ( −2, 1) are vertexes of a rhombus. Find the
coordinates of the fourth vertex.

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Note: If A’ is the symmetric of A with respect to M, then M is the midpoint of
the line segment AA’.

Exercise 4

Find, in each case, the symmetric of A( −3, − 5) with respect to:

a) P( −2, 0) b) Q(2, − 3) c) O(0, 0)

How to find if three points are collinear

Collinear points are points that lie on the same straight line.

If three points are collinear, then

the two right triangles shown in the
picture will be similar. Therefore,
corresponding sides will be in the
same ratio.

y2 − y1 y3 − y2
=
x2 − x1 x3 − x2

Example: Are the points A(2, − 1) , B(6, 1) and C(8, 2) collinear?

2
1 − ( −1 )
 =
6−2 4  ⇒ 2 = 1 ⇒ A, B and C are collinear points.
2−1 1  4 2
=
8 − 6 2 

Exercise 5

Find the value of “a” in order that the points P(2, 7) , Q(5, − 1) and R(a, − 25) lie
on the same straight line.

Exercise 6

Find the relation between “x” and “y” in order that the points A(0, 1) , B(2, 5)
and P(x, y) lie on the same straight line.

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Distance between two points
To find the distance between any two points A(x1, y1 ) and B(x2, y2 ) , look at the
right triangle in the following picture.

The distance between A and B,

d(A, B) , is the hypotenuse of the
right triangle.

2 2
d(A, B) = (x 2
− x1 ) + ( y2 − y1 )

Notice that the distance between the points A and B is the length of the vector







AB . That is, d(A, B) = AB .

Example: The distance between A(1, − 2) and B(5, 3) is:

2 2
d(A, B) = (5 − 1 ) + (3 − ( −2) ) = 42 + 52 = 41

Exercise 7

Find the distance between P and Q.

a) P(3, 5) , Q(3, − 7) b) P( −8, 3) , Q( −6, 1)

c) P(0, − 3) , Q( −5, 1) d) P( −3, 0) , Q(15, 0)

Exercise 8

a) Find the midpoint of the segment joining the points A( −2, 0) and B(6, 4) .
b) Check that the distance between the midpoint and each one of the endpoints
of the segment is the same.

Exercise 9

Prove that the triangle with vertexes A(4, 4) , B( −2, 3) and C(3, − 2) is isosceles.
What are the two equal sides? Find the area of this triangle.

Exercise 10

Use Pythagoras’ Theorem to prove that the triangle with vertexes A( −2, − 1) ,
B(3, 1) and C(1, 6) is a right triangle.

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8.3.- LINES

Slope and angle of inclination of a line

To find the equation of a line we use its slope, which is a measure of the
steepness of the line.

The slope of a nonvertical line

that passes through the points
P(x1 , y1 ) and Q(x2 , y2 ) is

y2 − y1
m= = tan α
x2 − x1

α is the angle of inclination of

the line, that is, the angle that
the line makes with the positive
x-axis.

The slope of a vertical line is not defined (tan90° does not exist).

This figure shows several lines

with their slopes. Notice that
lines with positive slope run
“uphill” from the left to the
right, whereas lines with
negative slope run “downhill”
from left to the right.

If m > 0 ⇒ tan α > 0 ⇒ α is an

acute angle.

If m < 0 ⇒ tan α < 0 ⇒ α is an

obtuse angle.

Notice also that the steepest lines are the ones for which the absolute value of
the slope is largest, and a horizontal line has slope 0.

Exercise 11

Calculate the angle which the line passing through ( −2, − 2) and (3, 4) makes with
the positive x-axis. Do the same with the line passing through ( −3, 3) and
(2, − 4) .

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Point-slope form of the equation of a line
Now let’s find an equation of the line that passes through a given point P(x0 , y0 )
and has slope m. If Q(x, y) , with x ≠ x0 , is any point that lies on that line, then
its coordinates satisfy that
y − y0
m=
x − x0

This equation can be rewritten in

the form
y − y0 = m ( x − x0 )

and we observe that this equation

is also satisfied when x = x0 and
y = y0 . Therefore, it is the
equation of the given line.

Point-slope form of the equation of a line. An equation of the line

passing through the point P(x0 , y0 ) and having slope m is

y − y0 = m ( x − x0 )

Example: Find an equation of the line through the points ( −1, 2) and (3, − 4) .

The slope of the line is

−4 − 2 6 3
m= =− =−
3 − ( −1) 4 2

Using the point-slope form with the first point ( −1, 2) , we obtain
3
y −2 = −
2
( x + 1)
which simplifies to
3x + 2y = 1

Exercise 12

Find the equation of the line that satisfies the given conditions.

a) Through (2, − 3) , slope 6.

b) Through ( −1, − 2) and (4, 3) .
c) Through ( −1, 4) , angle of inclination 45°.

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Slope-intercept form of the equation of a line
Suppose a nonvertical line has slope m and
y-intercept b. This means it intersects the
y-axis at the point (0, b) , so the point-
slope form of the equation of the line, with
x0 = 0 and y0 = b , becomes

y − b = m (x − 0)

This simplifies as follows

y = mx + b

Slope-intercept form of the equation of a line. An equation of the line

with slope m and y-intercept b is

y = mx + b

In particular, if a line is horizontal, its

slope is m = 0 , so its equation is y = b ,
where b is the y-intercept.

A vertical line does not have a slope, but

we can write its equation as x = a , where a
is the x-intercept, because the x-
coordinate of every point on the line is a.

Exercise 13

Find the equation of the line that satisfies the given conditions.

a) Slope 3 , y-intercept −2 .
b) x-intercept −8 , y-intercept 6 .
c) Through (4, 5) , parallel to x-axis.
d) Through (4, 5) , parallel to y-axis.

Exercise 14

Find the slope and y-intercept of the following lines and draw their graphs.

a) x + 3y = 0 b) 2x − 3y + 6 = 0
c) 3x − 4y = 12 d) 4x + 5y = 10

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Exercise 15

a) Show that if the x- and y-intercepts of a line are nonzero numbers a and b,
x y
then the equation of the line can be put in the form + = 1.
a b
This equation is called the two intercept form of an equation of a line.

b) Use part (a) to find an equation of the line whose x-intercept is 6 and whose
y-intercept is −8 .

Exercise 16

Find the equations of the angle bisectors of the first and second quadrants.

8.4.- PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR LINES

Slopes can be used to show that lines are parallel or perpendicular.

Since the slope is the measure of

the steepness of the line, parallel
lines will have the same slope.

Example:

The slope of the lines y = 0.5x + 1

and y = 0.5x + 2 is 0.5. Therefore,
the lines are parallel.

Suppose now that you have two perpendicular lines, “r” and “s”. What happens
with their slopes? Look at this example.

The slopes of r and s are:

2 −3
mr = ms =
3 2

1
ms = − ⇒ mr ⋅ ms = −1
mr

This relationship between the slopes is

valid in general.

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To sum up:

Two non vertical lines are parallel if and only if they have the same slope.

Two lines with slopes mr and ms are perpendicular if and only if mr ⋅ ms = −1 ;

1
that is, their slopes are negative reciprocals: ms = −
mr

Exercise 17

Find the equation of the line s that satisfies the given conditions.

a) Through P(1, − 6) , parallel to the line r : x + 2y = 6 .

b) y-intercept 6, parallel to the line r : 2x + 3y + 4 = 0 .
c) Through P( −4, − 2) , parallel to the line r : 5y − 15 = 0 .
d) Through P(2, 5) , perpendicular to the line r : y = −2x + 4 .
e) Through P(7, − 1) , perpendicular to the line r : 5x − 8y − 16 = 0 .
f) Through P(3, 0) , perpendicular to the line r : 2x − 11 = 0 .

Exercise 18

Find the value of k in so that the lines r : 5x + ky − 11 = 0 and s : 3x − 8y + 2 = 0

are perpendicular.

Exercise 19

Find the equation of the perpendicular bisector of the segment whose endpoints
are A( −5, 3) and B(2, 7) .

Exercise 20

Show that the lines r : 3x − 5y + 19 = 0 and s : 10x + 6y − 50 = 0 are

perpendicular and find their point of intersection.

8.5.- RELATIVE POSITON OF TWO LINES

Two lines can be:

Intersecting lines: if they cross at exactly one point in common.

Parallel lines: they never cross.

Coincident lines: they lie exactly on top of each other

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Examples:

Intersecting lines Parallel lines Coincident lines

If the lines are given in the general form, we can find out their relative position
in an easy way.

The general form of the equation of a line is Ax + By + C = 0 .

−A −C −A
Ax + By + C = 0 ⇒ By = −Ax − C ⇒ y = x+ ⇒ m=
B B B

Let r and s be two lines:

−A
r : Ax + By + C = 0 ⇒ mr =
B
−A'
s : A'x + B'y + C' = 0 ⇒ ms =
B'

If r and s are intersecting lines, they have no the same slope, that is;

−A −A' A A' A B
≠ ⇒ ≠ ⇒ ≠
B B' B B' A' B'

If r and s are parallel lines, they have the same slope, that is,

−A −A' A A' A B
= ⇒ = ⇒ =
B B' B B' A' B'

Since the lines are not coincident, their equations cannot be equivalent, so

A B C
= ≠
A' B' C'

If r and s are coincident lines, their equations are equivalent, that is,

A B C
= =
A' B' C'

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To sum up:

Let r and s be two lines: r : Ax + By + C = 0 s : A'x + B'y + C' = 0

A B
If ≠ ⇒ r and s are intersecting lines.
A' B'
A B C
If = ≠ ⇒ r and s are parallel lines.
A' B' C'
A B C
If = = ⇒ r and s are coincident lines.
A' B' C'

Exercise 21

Find out the relative position of the following pairs of lines.

a) r : 8x + 2y − 14 = 0 , s : 5x − y − 20 = 0
b) r : 3x − 2y − 14 = 0 , s: through (1, − 2) and (10, 1) .
c) r: through ( −1, 4) and (7, − 2) , s : 3x + 4y = 0 .
1
d) r: through (2, − 1) and (8, 2) , s: through (0, − 2) and slope
2

8.6.- EQUATION OF A CIRCUMFERENCE

Remember that the circumference is the locus of points on a plane that are a
fixed distance for another point. This point is called centre and the fixed
distance is called radius.

If P(x, y) is any point on the circumference,

C(a, b) is the centre and r is the radius, then

d(P, C) = r
2 2
( x − a ) + ( y − b) =r
2 2
( x − a ) + ( y − b) = r2

Therefore, the equation of a circumference

with centre C(a, b) and radius r is
2 2
( x − a ) + ( y − b) = r2

If the centre is the origin (0, 0) , then the equation is x2 + y2 = r2

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Exercise 22

Find the equation of the circumference that satisfies the given conditions.

a) Centre C(3, − 1) , radius r = 5 ; b) Centre C( −1, 5) , passes through ( −4, − 6) .

Exercise 23

Determine the centre and the radius of the following circumferences.

2 2 2
(
a) x − 2 ) + ( y + 3) = 16 (
b) x + 1 ) + y2 = 81 c) x2 + y2 = 10

Exercise 24

The radius of a circumference with centre C(4, 9) is r = 45 . Do the points

A( −2, 6) y B(8, 2) lie on that circumference?

Exercise 25

Sketch the graph of the equation x2 + y2 + 2x − 6y + 7 = 0 by first showing that

it represents a circumference and then finding its centre and radius.

Exercise 26

Determine the centre and the radius of the following circumferences.

a) x2 + y2 − 4x + 10y + 13 = 0 b) x2 + y2 + 6y + 2 = 0

Exercise 27

Determine the points of intersection between the circumference x2 + y2 = 50

and the angle bisector of the first quadrant.

8.7.- REGIONS IN THE PLANE

If you draw the graph of a circumference,
you get two pieces or regions in the plane.

Example: The equation x2 + y2 = 25

describes the circumference.

The inequation x 2 + y 2 < 25 describes the

inside of the circumference.

The inequation x2 + y2 > 25 describes the

outside of the circumference.

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One line divide the plane into two half-planes.

Example 1:

3x − 2y + 2 = 0 (line)
3x − 2y + 2 < 0 (half-plane)
3x − 2y + 2 > 0 (half-plane)

Which of the two half-planes corresponds

to each of the inequalities?

Choose a point in each half-plane and test

its coordinates in the inequalities.

Test (0, 0) :
3 ⋅ 0 − 2 ⋅ 0 + 2 > 0 ⇒ The half-plane that contains the point (0, 0)
is 3x − 2y + 2 > 0 .

Example 2: Example 3:

Solving linear inequations in two variables

We have just seen that the solution to a linear inequation (or inequality) in two
variables is a half-plane. An equation defines the boundary or edge of the half-
plane.

The steps for solving a linear inequality in two variables are:

1. Find the boundary by graphing the equation related to the inequality. If the
inequality symbol is < or > , draw the boundary as a dashed line. If the inequality
symbol is ≤ or ≥ , draw the boundary as a solid line to show that the points on
the boundary are included in the solution set.

2. Determine which of the two half-planes contains the solutions by choosing a

point in one of the two half-planes and testing its coordinates in the inequality.
If the coordinates make the inequality true, shade that half-plane.

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Example: Solve the inequality y − 2x ≤ 3 .

The related equation to the inequality is

y − 2x = 3 .

We solve the equation for “y” and draw the

line as a solid line since the inequality
symbol is less than or equal to. Finally, we
select a point in one of the two half-planes,
for example the point (0, 0) , and we test it
in the inequality.

0 − 2 ⋅ 0 ≤ 3 ⇒ The half-plane that

contains the point (0, 0) is y − 2x < 3 .

Exercise 28

Solve the following inequalities.

a) x > 4 b) x + y ≤ 2 c) 3x − 2y ≤ −5 d) y > 3

Solving systems of inequalities

Remember that a system of inequalities is a collection of inequations involving
the same set of variables.

Solving a system of inequalities means finding the values of the variables that
make all the inequalities true at the same time.

Example:

x2 + y2 ≤ 25

x ≥ 0
y ≥ 0


Exercise 29

Solve the following systems of inequalities.

x − y ≥ 0 x + y ≥ 0
1 ≤ x ≤ 6  
a)  b) x + y ≥ 0 c) 3x − y ≤ 0
 −2 ≤ y ≤ 3 x ≤ 4 x − 3y + 16 ≥ 0
 

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Exercise 30

Write the systems of inequalities whose solutions are the following coloured
regions in the plane.

a) b) c)

Exercise 31

The vertexes of a triangle are A( −5, 4) , B(4, 1) and C( −1, − 2) . Find:

a) The equations of its three sides.

b) The midpoint of the side AC.
c) The equation of the median that corresponds to the vertex B.

Exercise 32

Find the value of k so that the point ( −3, k) lies on the circumference
2 2
( x − 1) + ( y + 2) = 25 .

Exercise 33

Look at this figure. Is it a trapezium? If it is not, what should the coordinates

of D be in order that the figure is a trapezium?

Exercise 34

The line y = 2x + 1 is the perpendicular bisector of a segment AB. If the

endpoint A is ( −6, 4) , what are the coordinates of B?

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